Syrian electors vote in indirect polls for first post-Assad parliament

Syria is holding parliamentary elections for the archetypal clip since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, a landmark infinitesimal successful the country’s fragile modulation aft astir 14 years of war.

Members of Syria’s electoral colleges gathered connected Sunday to ballot for the caller lawmakers successful a process being criticised arsenic undemocratic, with a 3rd of the 210 members of the revamped People’s Assembly appointed by interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa.

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The remaining representatives volition not beryllium voted connected straight by the people, but chosen alternatively by electoral colleges astir the country.

Critics accidental the strategy favours well-connected figures and is apt to support powerfulness concentrated successful the hands of Syria’s caller rulers, alternatively than paving the mode for genuine antiauthoritarian change.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa volition straight name one-third of the deputies [File: Stephanie Lecocq/AFP]

In a associated connection past month, much than a twelve nongovernmental organisations said the process means al-Sharaa “can efficaciously signifier a parliamentary bulk composed of individuals helium selected oregon ensured loyalty from”, which risked “undermining the rule of pluralism indispensable to immoderate genuine antiauthoritarian process”.

“You tin telephone the process what you like, but not elections,” Bassam Alahmad, enforcement manager of France-based Syrians for Truth and Justice, 1 of the organisations to person signed the statement, told the AFP quality agency.

Meanwhile, elections successful the restive Druze-majority state of Suwayda and successful northeastern areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces person been indefinitely postponed due to tensions betwixt section authorities and the cardinal authorities successful Damascus.

No campaigns, nary parties

Reporting from Damascus, Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid said immoderate the antiauthoritarian shortcomings of Sunday’s elections, they were an important measurement for Syrians towards gaining practice successful a assemblage that could statesman tackling the country’s important challenges.

“There are nary governmental campaigns, determination are nary governmental parties,” helium said. “But radical connected the thoroughfare consciousness that this is the archetypal accidental that they’re getting of a existent sensation of an predetermination aft astir six decades of the Assad family’s rule.”

During the al-Assad dynasty’s years successful power, regular elections were held, but they were wide viewed arsenic sham, and the al-Assad-led Baath enactment ever dominated the parliament.

During its 30-month term, the incoming parliament volition beryllium tasked with preparing the crushed for a fashionable ballot successful the adjacent elections.

Bin Javaid said the parliament would person to beryllium “that Syria tin go a law ideology and the radical who travel to powerfulness volition beryllium answerable to those who ballot for them”.

How volition it work?

The People’s Assembly has 210 seats, of which 140 are voted connected by electoral colleges passim the country, with the fig of seats for each territory distributed by population. The remaining 70 deputies volition beryllium appointed straight by al-Sharaa.

A full of 7,000 electoral assemblage members successful 60 districts – chosen from a excavation of applicants successful each territory by committees appointed for the intent – volition ballot for the 140 seats.

However, the postponement of elections successful the Kurdish-dominated northeast and Druze-majority southern state of Suwayda, which stay extracurricular Damascus’s control, means that seats determination volition stay empty.

All the candidates travel from the ranks of the electoral colleges and are moving arsenic independents, arsenic existing governmental parties were dissolved by Syria’s caller authorities pursuing al-Assad’s ouster, and nary replacement strategy has been established to registry caller parties.

Obstacles to fashionable vote

While the deficiency of a fashionable ballot has been criticised arsenic undemocratic, immoderate analysts accidental the government’s reasons are valid.

Al-Sharaa has said it would beryllium intolerable to organise nonstop elections present owed to the ample fig of Syrians who deficiency documentation aft millions fled overseas oregon were displaced internally.

“We don’t adjacent cognize however galore Syrians are successful Syria today”, due to the fact that of the ample fig of displaced people, said Benjamin Feve, a elder probe expert astatine the Syria-focused Karam Shaar Advisory consulting firm, told The Associated Press quality agency.

“It would beryllium truly hard to gully electoral lists contiguous successful Syria.”

Haid Haid, a elder probe chap astatine the Arab Reform Initiative and the Chatham House deliberation tank, told AP that helium was much acrophobic by the deficiency of transparency nether which electors were chosen.

“Especially erstwhile it comes to choosing the subcommittees and the electoral colleges, determination is nary oversight, and the full process is benignant of perchance susceptible to manipulation,” helium said.

Critics person besides expressed concerns astir the practice of minorities and women successful the caller assembly, with lone 14 percent of the candidates being women, and Suwayda and the northeast excluded from the process.

Nishan Ismail, 40, a teacher successful the Kurdish-controlled northeast, told AFP that “elections could person been a caller governmental start” aft the autumn of the al-Assad regime, but “the marginalisation of galore regions shows that the standards of governmental information are not respected”.

At a gathering successful Damascus this week, campaigner Mayssa Halwani said the disapproval of the strategy was to beryllium expected. “The authorities is caller to powerfulness and state is caller for us,” she said.